The wet dress rehearsal
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SpaceX conducted a fueling test of its full Starship launch vehicle Jan. 23, taking the vehicle one step closer to its first orbital launch attempt.
The fully stacked Starship vehicle, consisting of a Super Heavy booster designated Booster 7 and a Starship upper stage named Ship 24, was filled with liquid oxygen and methane propellants during the test at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas. The test, called a wet dress rehearsal, simulates a countdown without firing the vehicle’s engines.
SpaceX disclosed few details about the test while it was in progress, although observers could see frost accumulating on the vehicle as it was filled with cryogenic propellants. Only after the wet dress rehearsal was complete did SpaceX confirm that it took place.
“Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today,” the company tweeted late Jan. 23, noting that the vehicle was loaded with more than 4.5 million kilograms of propellant. “Today’s test will help verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well as the performance of Starship and the orbital pad for flight-like operations.”
The wet dress rehearsal was one of the final milestones for the vehicle before the company was ready to attempt an orbital launch. Another is a static-fire test of all 33 Raptor engines in the Super Heavy booster, something SpaceX has yet to attempt.
